Gun nuttery
As of today, in order to be constitutional, any such [gun control] law must have a specific historical precedent from the 18th or early-19th century. . . .
For most of our history, hardly any judges or legal authorities thought that the Second Amendment contained any individual right at all. The reason is obvious: the language of the amendment itself, which reads “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” For most of our history, legal scholars and judges agreed that the second phrase depended on the first. The right to bear arms existed so that people could be part of a militia. It was not an individual right; it was dependent on one’s participation in a militia. That changed in the 1970s with the transformation of the National Rifle Association into an extremist organization that propagated the cultural and legal view that the Second Amendment guaranteed an individual right to bear arms. Warren Burger, the conservative chief justice appointed by Richard Nixon, would go on to describe this as “a fraud on the American public.”[1]
Bill Chappell, “Texas GOP’s new platform says Biden didn’t really win. It also calls for secession,” National Public Radio, June 20, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/06/20/1106229988/texas-gops-new-platform-says-biden-didnt-really-win-it-also-calls-for-secession
Michael Tomasky, “The Founders Feared a Tyranny of the Majority, but What We Have Is a Tyranny of a Fanatical Minority,” New Republic, June 20, 2022, https://newrepublic.com/article/166848/gop-minority-rule-gun-safety
Eliza Collins and Natalie Andrews, “Senate Negotiators Release Text of Gun Bill,” Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/gun-control-talks-held-up-by-abortion-provision-11655827268
Mark Scolforo, “GOP lawmakers block assault-style gun ban for those under 21,” Associated Press, June 21, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/shootings-violence-pennsylvania-united-states-gun-politics-7b3d9440bab4bdd96cf72c087ed2eb8a
Eliza Collins and and Natalie Andrews, “Bipartisan Gun Bill Advances in Senate,” Wall Street Journal, June 22, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/gun-control-talks-held-up-by-abortion-provision-11655827268
Jess Bravin, “Supreme Court Strikes Down New York Law on Concealed Weapons,” Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-strikes-down-new-york-law-on-concealed-weapons-11655995248
Jon Healy, “Supreme Court throws out New York’s concealed weapons law. Here’s what it means for California,” Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2022, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-06-23/supreme-court-concealed-carry-ruling-what-it-means-for-california
Jay Michaelson, “The Future of Gun Control Is in Danger,” New York, June 23, 2022, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/06/supreme-court-gun-case-endangers-the-future-of-gun-control.html
David G. Savage, “Supreme Court bolsters gun owners’ right to carry a weapon in public,” Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2022, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-06-23/supreme-court-gun-owners-right-to-carry-a-weapon-in-public
Ariane de Vogue, “Samuel Alito lashes out at liberals in guns case as tensions boil over at SCOTUS,” CNN, June 23, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/23/politics/samuel-alito-stephen-breyer-guns/index.html
Donald Trump
Coup attempt
[Donald Trump has] been asking aides why there are so many stories about [Ron] DeSantis, and the recent buzz around the [Florida] governor has emerged as a major factor pushing Trump towards making an early announcement about his candidacy. Months ago, sources close to Trump told me that he was motivated by Joe Biden’s vulnerability, on top of his own impulsive desire to announce his candidacy and dominate the news cycle. Now I’m hearing that an announcement is more a move of necessity in order to freeze the field and preserve his political future. “It’s to steal the march on Ron,” said a source close to the former president. “I think he thinks it will staunch the bleeding of supporters moving to Ron.”[2]
Rosalind S. Helderman, “GOP member of Jan. 6 committee warns that more violence is coming,” Washington Post, June 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/19/jan-6-kinzinger-ginni-thomas/
Peter Stone, “Searing testimony increases odds of charges against Trump, experts say,” Guardian, June 19, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/19/trump-charges-january-6-hearings-capitol-attack
Bill Chappell, “Texas GOP’s new platform says Biden didn’t really win. It also calls for secession,” National Public Radio, June 20, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/06/20/1106229988/texas-gops-new-platform-says-biden-didnt-really-win-it-also-calls-for-secession
Dana Milbank, “Texas Republicans want to secede? Good riddance,” Washington Post, June 20, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/20/texas-gop-platform-secession-theocracy/
Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, “Alone in Washington, Rusty Bowers tells world what happened in Arizona,” Washington Post, June 21, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/06/21/rusty-bowers-jan-6/
Alex Shephard, “The Democrats Are Fools for Boosting Trumpist Republicans,” New Republic, June 21, 2022, https://newrepublic.com/article/166852/pelosi-boosting-mastriano-lori-saine
Amy Gardner, Josh Dawsey, and Jacqueline Alemany, “Lawmakers on Jan. 6 committee ramp up their security as threats increase,” Washington Post, June 22, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/22/jan6-security-threats/
Spencer S. Hsu, Josh Dawsey, and Devlin Barrett, “Jan. 6 probe expands with fresh subpoenas in multiple states,” Washington Post, June 22, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/06/22/jan6-fbi-electors-subpoenas/
Jennifer Rubin, “A question for Garland: Do you know how it feels for POTUS to target you?” Washington Post, June 22, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/22/jan-6-merrick-garland-prosecution-donald-trump/
Tara Palmeri, “Trump’s Case of DeSantisitis,” Puck News, June 23, 2022, https://puck.news/trumps-case-of-desantisitis/
- [1]Jay Michaelson, “The Future of Gun Control Is in Danger,” New York, June 23, 2022, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/06/supreme-court-gun-case-endangers-the-future-of-gun-control.html↩
- [2]Tara Palmeri, “Trump’s Case of DeSantisitis,” Puck News, June 23, 2022, https://puck.news/trumps-case-of-desantisitis/↩